Rail joint



April 8 1924. 1,490,002 D. l.. GEARNER RAIL Filed sent. 1s. 1923 L.Gea-weer Patented pr. 8, 1924..

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'aan Joins.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL L. GEARNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Duif, in the county of Dubois and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail Joints, of whichthe following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a rail joint. The main obj ect of theinvention is to construct the fish plates of the joint so that they willengage the top and bottom of the foot of the rail and in this mannersupport the adjacent rail endsat the joint. One of the fish plates isaccordingly provided with a base resting directly on a tie and upon thisbase the rail is seated.

In the accompanying drawing one embodiment of the invention isillustrated, and- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the rail jointbefore assembling, and

Figure 2 is a transverse section of the rail joint in position.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 10 represents a tie above whichthe two ends 11 and 12 of the rails meet. The rail joints are providedin pairs comprising a base member 13 and a securing member 14. The basemember includes a fish plate 15 which is arcuate in cross section. Thesaid fish plate continues downwardly with an inclined flange 16 adaptedto engage with the top of the rail foot 17. At the lower end of the ange16 the base plate 18, integral therewith, is turned inwardly and hassufficient width to support the entire width of the foot 17. The baseplate 18 does not need to have the full length of the flange 16 but ispreferably considerably shorter. The top edge 19 of the fish plate isflat or blunt in order to engage with the inclined lower side of therail head 20. The inner side of the fish plate is recessed, as at 21, sothat it stands away along a horizontal central line a considerabledistance from the neck 22 of the rail. l

The securing member 14 is shaped'in a similar manner to the base member13 and consists of a fish plate 23 continuing downwardly with the flange24 and terminating with a narrow foot 25 adapted to re-st on the tie 10.The securing member does not, however, have an inwardly turned baseplate like the base member 13 and is not intended to abut against theedge of the base plate 18 Application filed. September.;

1,3, 519,23. seriainaecaeea when assembled, a narrow space 26 beingformed between the latter and the foot 25.

Both fish plates 15 and 23 are provided with a series of transverseapertures 27 in which the clamping bolts 28 are adapted to 60 engage, aswell as in corresponding apertures 39 provided through the necks 22 ofthe rails. When the nuts of these bolts 28 are drawn up tightly thearcuate fish plates 15 and 23 will expand in vertical direction to 65engage tightly between the head 2O and theV foot 17 of each rail.

IIhe ianges 16 and 24 are also provided with apertures 29 and 30 adaptedto receive the rail spikes 31.

This rail joint provides a very firm connection between the rail endsand gives a very good support for the same. It is evident that whenrails have to be replaced, it is only necessary to loosen the nuts ofthe bolts 28 and remove the securing member 14 after the spikes 31holding the latter to the tie have been taken out. rIhe base member 13,however, does not need to be disturbed but remains in position on thetie without removing the spikes 31. By this arrangement the advantage isgained that no adjustment of the rails need take place because the newrails will be alined in the stationary rail oint member 13. Ordinarily,a track gage is necessary for this relaying of rails but in the presentinstance the firmly secured joint members 13 provide a gage for thedistance between each pair of rails.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a railroad track having ties, a rail joint comprising a pair ofarcuate fish plates, an inclined ange along the lower edge of each fishplate, a base plate integral with the flange of one of said fish platesmedially positioned thereon and extending substantially the full Widthunder the foot of the rail and the full width ci the supporting tie, theflange of the other fish plate terminating with a narrow foot adapted torest on said tie and having spaced relation with said base plate inassembled position, and means for securing the fish plates to the rail.

2. In a railroad track having ties, a rail joint comprising a pair ofarcuate fish plates, an inclined flange along the lower edge of eachfish plate, a base plate integral with the flange of one of said fishplates medially positioned thereon and extending substantially the fullWidth under the foot the neck of the rail; and bolts adapted te of therail and the full Width of the supportclamp the iish plates securelyT tothe rail, ing tie, the flange of the other iish plate tersaid iishplates being provided with suitable minating With a narrow foot adaptedto rest apertures for said bolts and said flanges, a

5 on said tie and having spaced relation with -narrow foot and baseplate having apertures 15 said base plate in assembled position, the topf situated adjacent the edges. of the rail foot edges of said ish platesengaging under the and adapted to receive rail spikes. head of the railand the flanges standing on In testimony whereof afz; my signature. thetop of the rail foot While the opposing 10 inner sides of the fishplates are spaced from DANIEL L. GEARNER. [n s]

